Choi (left), a junior from Australia, finished 21st on Thursday in Stage 2 of Q-school in Venice, Fla. The top 41 finishers out of the original field of 193 landed spots in the Q-series, which will take place from Oct. 24-Nov. 3 at the Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina.

Choi, who has qualified in Colorado for the last two U.S. Women’s Opens, shot an even-par 72 in the final round, giving her a four-day total of 2-under 286. She made three birdies and three bogeys on Thursday and played her final seven holes in 2 under par.

Former Parker resident Elizabeth Wang, who entered the final round in 25th place, missed advancing to the Q-Series by one stroke. The Harvard freshman’s played her final five holes in 2 over par to shoot a 74 and check in at 289, which left her with a 42nd-place finish.

The players who advance to the Q-series will be part of a field — which is expected to number 103 golfers — who will compete in two 72-hole stroke-play tournaments held on consecutive weeks Oct. 24-Nov. 3 in North Carolina. Scores will be cumulative over the two weeks, with at least the top 45 finishers and ties earning LPGA cards. A $150,000 purse will be on the line.

Sixty-two players are exempt and entered into the Q-Series. Among the exempt players expected to compete are Coloradans Jennifer Kupcho and Becca Huffer and former University of Colorado golfer Jennifer Coleman, who had an LPGA Tour card in 2017.

Amateurs — such as Choi — who go on to earn their LPGA Tour cards can defer their acceptance of membership until July 1, 2019. That means they could complete their college seasons before joining the LPGA Tour should they qualify.

Here are the round-by-round scores in Stage 2 for the players with strong Colorado connections:

Advances to Q-Series
21. CU golfer Robyn Choi 72-71-71-72–286
Failed to Advance
42. Former Colorado resident Elizabeth Wang 71-73-71-74–289
104. Former CU golfer Kristin Coleman 75-73-75-74–297
120. Former Denver resident Emily Gilbreth 77-76-75-71–299
151. Ashley Tait of Littleton 76-79-73-76–304
179. Former CU golfer Brittany Fan 75-80-75-81–311
Former CU golfer Emily Childs 79-84–WD

For complete results, CLICK HERE.
 

With a minimum of the top 25 finishers and ties after 72 holes advancing to the Q-Series, which this year replaces the third and final stage of Q-school, that leaves Robyn Choi (left) and Elizabeth Wang in good shape to move on in the process.

Choi, a University of Colorado junior who has qualified for the last two U.S. Women’s Opens, and Wang, a former Parker resident who’s now a freshman at Harvard, each shot a 1-under-par 71 Wednesday at the Panther Course at Plantation Golf & Country Club. That moved Choi into 18th place at 2-under-par 214 and Wang into 25th place at 215.

Choi and Wang each carded three birdies and two bogeys in round 3.

The players who advance to the Q-series will be part of a field — numbering no more than 108 golfers — who will compete in two 72-hole stroke-play tournaments held on consecutive weeks Oct. 22-Nov. 3 at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina. Scores will be cumulative over the two weeks.

Sixty-two players are exempt and entered into the Q-Series, meaning additional golfers from Stage 2 could advance as long as the total number of competitors in the Q-Series, including exempt participants, doesn’t exceed 108.

Amateurs — such as Wang and Choi — who earn their LPGA Tour cards can defer their acceptance of membership until July 1, 2019. That means they could complete their college seasons before joining the LPGA Tour should they qualify.

Here are the round-by-round scores in Stage 2 for the players with strong Colorado connections:

18. CU golfer Robyn Choi 72-71-71–214
25. Former Colorado resident Elizabeth Wang 71-73-71–215
101. Former CU golfer Kristin Coleman 75-73-75–223
148. Ashley Tait of Littleton 76-79-73–228
149. Former Denver resident Emily Gilbreth 77-76-75–228
167. Former CU golfer Brittany Fan 75-80-75–230
Former CU golfer Emily Childs 79-84–WD

For complete results, CLICK HERE.
 

Choi (left), a junior from Australia, jumped up to 23rd place out of the 193-player field as a three-birdie, two-bogey day at the Panther Course at Plantation Golf & Country Club left her at 1-under 143 overall with two rounds remaining. Choi has qualified in Colorado for the last two U.S. Women’s Opens.

Also in the top 100 at the halfway point of the tournament are former Parker resident Elizabeth Wang (144, 33rd place) and former CU golfer Kristin Coleman (148, 82nd place). Wang was 2 under for the day through 15 holes, but double bogeyed No. 16 and bogeyed No. 18.

A minimum of the top 25 players and ties after 72 holes will advance to Q-Series, which this year replaces the third and final stage of Q-school. There, a maximum of 108 players will compete in two 72-hole stroke-play tournaments held on consecutive weeks Oct. 22-Nov. 3 at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina. Scores will be cumulative over the two weeks.

Sixty-two players are exempt and entered into the Q-Series, meaning additional golfers from Stage 2 could advance as long as the total number of competitors in the Q-Series, including exempt participants, doesn’t exceed 108.

Amateurs — such as Wang and Choi — who earn their LPGA Tour cards can defer their acceptance of membership until July 1, 2019.

Here are the round-by-round scores in Stage 2 for the players with strong Colorado connections:

23. CU golfer Robyn Choi 72-71–143
33. Former Colorado resident Elizabeth Wang 71-73–144
82. Former CU golfer Kristin Coleman 75-73–148
153. Former Denver resident Emily Gilbreth 77-76–153
167. Former CU golfer Brittany Fan 75-80–155
167. Ashley Tait of Littleton 76-79–155
Former CU golfer Emily Childs 79-84–WD

For complete results, CLICK HERE.
 

Wang, a freshman at Harvard who finished 34th in this year’s U.S. Women’s Open and made the round of 16 at the U.S. Women’s Amateur, shares 28th place out of the field of 193. And Choi, who has played in the last two U.S. Women’s Opens, is tied for 39th with three rounds remaining.

A minimum of the top 25 players and ties after 72 holes will advance to Q-Series, which this year replaces the third and final stage of Q-school. There, a maximum of 108 players will compete in two 72-hole stroke-play tournaments held on consecutive weeks Oct. 22-Nov. 3 at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina. Scores will be cumulative over the two weeks.

Sixty-two players are exempt and entered into the Q-Series, meaning additional golfers from Stage II could advance as long as the total number of competitors in the Q-Series, including exempt participants, doesn’t exceed 108.

Wang made four birdies and three bogeys on Monday at the Bobcat Course at Plantation Golf & Country Club. Choi, meanwhile, carded three birdies and three bogeys.

Amateurs — such as Wang and Choi — who earn their LPGA Tour cards can defer their acceptance of membership until July 1, 2019.

Here are the round-by-round scores in Stage 2 for the players with strong Colorado connections:

28. Former Colorado resident Elizabeth Wang 71
39. CU golfer Robyn Choi 72
108. Former CU golfer Brittany Fan 75
108. Former CU golfer Kristin Coleman 75
133. Ashley Tait of Littleton 76
152. Former Denver resident Emily Gilbreth 77
173. Former CU golfer Emily Childs 79

For complete results, CLICK HERE.
 

With at least the top 100 players and ties after four rounds advancing to Stage II — set for Oct. 15-18 in Venice, Fla. — Fan jumped into the top 50 on Saturday in Rancho Mirage, Calif. She shot a 2-under-par 70 in round 3 to put her in 49th place at 1-over 217.

Fan (left) carded six birdies on Saturday, along with two bogeys and a double bogey. She trails leader Celina Yuan of Australia by 12 strokes.

Meanwhile, Choi checked in at 218 (67th place) after a third round 72.

Also among the players with strong Colorado connections in the top 100 through three rounds are former Coloradan Elizabeth Wang (218), Ashley Tait of Littleton (220, 93rd place) and former Denver resident Emily Gilbreth (220).

This year in the LPGA qualifying process, a Q-Series replaces the third and final stage. There, a maximum of 108 players will compete in two 72-hole stroke-play tournaments held on consecutive weeks Oct. 22-Nov. 3 at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina. Scores will be cumulative over the two weeks.

Amateurs who earn their cards can defer their acceptance of LPGA membership until July 1, 2019.

Here are the round-by-round scores this week for the players with strong Colorado connections:

49. Former CU golfer Brittany Fan 74-73-70–217
67. Amateur Elizabeth Wang, who grew up in Colorado 76-69-73–218
67. University of Colorado golfer/amateur Robyn Choi 74-72-72–218
93. Ashley Tait of Littleton 71-74-75–220
93. Amateur Emily Gilbreth, a former Denver resident 76-72-78–221
112. Paige Crawford of Colorado Springs 73-70-78–221

Missed 54-Hole Cut (those at 223 or better will play final round)
147. Hannah Wood of Highlands Ranch 71-78-75–224
160. Former CU golfer Natalie Vivaldi 72-78-75–225
216. Amateur Jaylee Tait of Littleton 77-75-77–229
232. Samantha Stancato of Colorado Springs 76-80-74–230

For complete results, CLICK HERE.

With at least the top 100 players and ties after four rounds advancing to Stage II — set for Oct. 15-18 in Venice, Fla. — Paige Crawford of Colorado Springs leads the local contingent. She made six birdies on Friday and shot a 2-under-par 70 at the Dinah Shore Course, giving her a 1-under 143 total, good for a share of 35th place.

Other locals in the top 100 with two rounds remaining are Ashley Tait of Littleton (145, 61st place), former Coloradan Elizabeth Wang (also at 145), University of Colorado golfer Robyn Choi (146, 78th place) and former Buff Brittany Fan (147, 100th place).

Celina Yuan of Australia holds the 36-hole lead at 9-under 135.

The field will be cut after 54 holes to a minimum of the low 125 players and ties.

This year in the LPGA qualifying process, a Q-Series replaces the third and final stage. There, a maximum of 108 players will compete in two 72-hole stroke-play tournaments held on consecutive weeks Oct. 22-Nov. 3 at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina. Scores will be cumulative over the two weeks.

Amateurs who earn their cards can defer their acceptance of LPGA membership until July 1, 2019.

Here are the round-by-round scores for the players with strong Colorado connections:

35. Paige Crawford of Colorado Springs 73-70–143
61. Ashley Tait of Littleton 71-74–145
61. Amateur Elizabeth Wang, who grew up in Colorado 76-69–145
78. University of Colorado golfer/amateur Robyn Choi 74-72–146
100. Former CU golfer Brittany Fan 74-73–147
121. Amateur Emily Gilbreth, a former Denver resident 76-72–148
142. Hannah Wood of Highlands Ranch 71-78–149
169. Former CU golfer Natalie Vivaldi 72-78–150
210. Amateur Jaylee Tait of Littleton 77-75–152
273. Samantha Stancato of Colorado Springs 76-80–156

For complete results, CLICK HERE.

Sixty-four players are scheduled to compete in the 36-hole qualifier, with the top two finishers earning spots to the national Women’s Open, set for July 13-16 at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J.

Among those 64 are Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster and Hannah Wood of Highlands Ranch, two college golfers who earned spots in arguably the biggest tournament in women’s golf a year ago. Both players fell short of making the 36-hole cut in the U.S. Women’s Open, Wood by three shots and Kupcho by seven.

Kupcho, a three-time CWGA Player of the Year, has won three individual titles this college season while at Wake Forest and is currently No. 13 in the women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking. Wood, the 2014 CWGA Stroke Play champion who plays her college golf at the University of Oklahoma, is No. 129 in the women’s WAGR.

Also scheduled to play in Wednesday’s qualifier are Lucy Li of Redwood Shores, Calif., the 14-year-old who made the cut in the 2017 ANA Inspiration, the first major of the LPGA Tour season; 2013 CoBank Colorado Women’s Open champion Becca Huffer of Denver, who played in the 2012 U.S. Women’s Open; up-and-coming University of Colorado freshman Robyn Choi (No. 155 in the world among women amateurs); Utah’s Sirene Blair (No. 132); three-time state high school champion and CWGA Stroke Play winner Ashley Tait; former University of Northern Colorado golfer Carleigh Silvers, who qualified for the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open.

More than half of Wednesday’s field are amateurs.

All told, 25 qualifying tournaments will be held for the 72nd U.S. Women’s Open.

Birdie Kim won the 2005 U.S. Women’s Open at Cherry Hills Country Club after competing in a qualifying tournament that year.

Riverdale Dunes hosted the 1993 U.S. Amateur Public Links and two Web.com Tour events during the ’90s.

For U.S. Women’s Open pairings from Riverdale Dunes, CLICK HERE.

You could take it to the (Co)Bank.

Almost exactly a year after the purse for the men’s Open jumped to $250,000 — with an amazing $100,000 going to the winner — Colorado Open Golf Foundation officials announced a comparable increase, percentage-wise, for the CoBank Colorado Women’s Open. Not coincidentally, CoBank has been the title sponsor for the Colorado Open championships since the beginning of 2016.

For the 2017 women’s tournament, set for Aug. 30-Sept. 1 at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in northeast Denver, first prize will more than quadruple — to $50,000 from $11,000 — and the overall purse will double — to $150,000. In both cases, those are records for a women’s state/regional open and the $50,000 is considerably more than the winner receives for any 2017 event on the Symetra Tour, the LPGA’s development circuit.

“We’re very excited that we’re a big girls’ game now,” Colorado Open Golf Foundation CEO Kevin Laura said during Thursday’s announcement at Topgolf in Centennial.

Roughly $135,000 of the purse total will be devoted to the championship competition, with $15,000 (the same as in 2016) going for the pro-am.

“This is the best state open and it’s getting even better,” said Denver’s Becca Huffer, a two-time Colorado state high school champion who went on to win the 2013 Colorado Women’s Open.

“This is a huge day for women’s golf in Colorado,” said 2005 CWO champ Erin Houtsma, the tournament’s all-time money leader. “As someone who’s played in this tournament since I was about 16 years old, I love this event so much and this is long overdue. I thank everyone for their hard work and dedication to this process.”

Ironically, Houtsma is in the midst of getting her amateur status back, so even if she wins the 2017 CWO, there will be no $50,000 first prize for her. Instead, the highest-finishing professional would get that payday.

With the substantial increase in money, tournament organizers now feel there will be enough demand for a qualifying event — a first for the CWO — and have scheduled one for Aug. 28 at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora. Five to 10 spots will be available through qualifying. Meanwhile, exemptions will be held for select players from the LPGA and Symetra Tours.

Laura indicated the increased prize money for the Women’s Open is being funded by $75,000 in new sponsorships, with another $10,000 coming from a $100 increase in entry fees from the 100 or so championship players. It will now cost those players $400 to enter the championship alone, and $500 for the championship and the pro-am.

(Entries for the Colorado Women’s Open, the CoBank Colorado Open and the CoBank Colorado Senior Open all will open on Monday, March 6. For more information, CLICK HERE.)

The money hike for the Women’s Open — which will continue to feature a format in which the championship and a pro-am are conducted simultaneously — has been on the radar since organizers first started putting a similar plan in place for the men’s Open.

“We knew when we first did the men’s purse increase that shortly thereafter we needed to figure out how to handle the women,” said Pat Hamill, the founder of the Colorado Open Golf Foundation and the owner of GVR. “Alex (Ringsby, who serves on the foundation’s board of trustees) had called me and said, ‘We thought women should come first. Isn’t that the right thing to do?'”

All three of the Colorado Open championships have always been very highly regarded among state and regional opens, but the huge purse increases for the Colorado Open and the Colorado Women’s Open since CoBank became title sponsor certainly take those tournaments’ reputation up a notch.

The Colorado Open “clearly was a premier state tournament, but … we wanted to take it to the next level,” said Bob Engel, former CEO of CoBank. “And we saw the engagement of anyone that has anything at all to do with the (tournament or course). Everyone pulled together on this. And the excitement just kind of continued to grow.

“For me what was really (eye-catching) was when we had these individual clinics with The First Tee kids last year (conducted by Hale Irwin, Ryan Palmer and Paula Creamer). And when I saw the attendance by the young ladies for that (Creamer) event, it was absolutely tremendous. And Pat (Hamill) had whispered to me at the end of the men’s tournament, ‘We’re going to get this going for the women also.’ It really is tremendous. … So (with these increases) we think it brings a whole lot more and that the community will continue to rally around it.”

Many players like the ones who attended Thursday’s announcement — Houtsma, Huffer and three-time state high school champion and veteran CWO competitor Ashley Tait — have seldom played in a tournament with a $50,000 first prize (though Huffer competed in the 2012 U.S. Women’s Open). (Pictured above, from left, sharing a laugh Thursday are Engel, Hamill, Houtsma, Huffer and Tait.)

“I’ve always looked forward to that day that I have a chance to win (the Women’s Open) — and I’ll look forward to that day even more (now),” Tait said with a laugh. “($50,000) could change your life, open up some doors, especially for us having to pay for your own expenses and travel on tour.

“Especially coming down that stretch at Green Valley and those last four holes, which can be brutal, they’ll be even more stressful now with that on the line.”

The hope from the perspective of tournament organizers is a step up in the caliber of field for the Women’s Open like that that happened for the men’s Open, which in 2016 sold out all four of its qualfiers for the first time.

“We know this is going to do for the CoBank Colorado Women’s Open what the purse increase did for the men,” said Chris Nordling, a former CGA state amateur champion who now chairs the Colorado Open Golf Foundation. “We’re excited about the better field, the lower scores and the more money for the women.”

Just how much of a draw the money increase will be should be apparent this year as both the Symetra Tour and the LPGA Tour have events directly opposite of the CWO. With the top 10 players on the final 2017 Symetra Tour money list earning spots on the 2018 LPGA Tour — and with that being the stretch run for the Symetra schedule — some players will be conflicted about whether to come to Colorado. That’s what happened with Huffer last year when she was high enough on the Symetra money list that she decided to skip the Colorado Women’s Open to further help her cause on the Symetra money list.

“I hated missing this event last year,” Huffer said. “(With the money increase) I can’t imagine people not having it on their radar. It would be a really hard decision not to come here. … I think it will bring anyone who has ever been on the fence about playing in it.

“I can see it being a star on the calendar for everyone.”

The field for the 23rd CWO will feature 104-106 championship players, including probably 18-25 amateurs. With 38-40 net amateurs competing, the total field will number 144.

Big Names Expected for 2 Clinics at GVR: A year after holding three clinics featuring two winners of major championships (Irwin and Creamer, in addition to Palmer), the folks from the Colorado Open Golf Foundation are planning to host a couple of other major winners for clinics at GVR this summer.

Laura said arrangements aren’t yet finalized, but a major champion on the men’s side and another on the women’s are expected to lead the clinics for the kids from the area’s First Tee programs, including the one at GVR.

The clinic with the men’s major champ will likely be held in mid- to late-June, with the women’s LPGA Tour player probably coming two months later.